Story of JahanTab, a HBLSS member
Jahantab, 50, sits behind a sewing machine, making a bride’s dress for neighbour’s daughter. She lost her husband due to Hepatitis 11 years ago. Now she is the only wage earner in her family and she needs to provide for their seven children.
Jahantab sews all day, from early morning until the middle of night to support her children; she wants her children to be educated: to be a doctors, engineers and teachers.
Many years ago, her husband encouraged her to be a Community Health Worker (CHW). Today, she has more than 12 years of experience on counselling people on health-related issues.
In addition to being a CHW, Jahantab also has been working as a Home-Based Life-Saving Skill (HBLLS) member—a World Vision programme—in her village since 2010.
The HBLLS programme was initially introduced through the Better Health for Afghan Mother and Children project (BHAMC) in Herat. This program focuses on basic knowledge and practical skills in maternal and new-born care for both mothers and fathers.
World Vision’s Better Health for Afghan Mothers and Children programme contributes to sustained improvements in maternal, new-born, and child health (MNCH) outcomes in Karukh, Zindajan, Kohsan and Chest-i-Sharrif districts in Herat Province and contributes to the implementation of Ministry of Public Health’s basic package of health services.
Since October, 2008 the Better Health for Afghan Mothers and Children project has been implemented in four districts of Herat province, by World Vision Afghanistan (WVA) and World Vision United States (WVUS) in close coordination with implementing partners in the Bakhater Development Network.
The goal of this project is to contribute to sustained improvements in child survival and maternal and child health outcomes in Afghanistan. Ultimately, the objective is to increase the access, quality and equity of community and facility-based health services for improved maternal, new-born and, child health in Herat province.
Why was HBLSS chosen by World Vision?
- High maternal and new-born mortality rates.
- Lack of access to maternity services.
- Vulnerable, rural populations.
- Women not empowered to make decisions.
- Builds on MNCH platform.
- Easy to integrate messages.
- Participatory family and community-based approach.
Through this program which is implementing in four districts of Herat, skilled attendants are able identify the problems and intervene early allowing them to stabilize the individual’s condition and help the patient reach specialized care.
“People are very pleased that we express our concerns for them. We go to their homes and counsel them. They have never experienced such attention before. They just lived in a black box without any information about health issues. Pregnant women received advice from their mother-in-laws, old women and uneducated traditional birth attendants. The pregnancy period and the delivery process were not important for them.
They believed death and life were in God’s hands and it is out of our ability or control. But now, everything has been changed. People’s minds have been opened and they understand that if they increase their knowledge about health issues they can avoid preventable deaths and save their family’s lives,” explained Jahantab.
The HBLSS programme has a positive impact, both in terms of disease prevention as well as in terms of promoting good health practices. Through this program, around 419 Family Health Action Group (FHAG) members in 70 villages were trained to carry out discussions with families of pregnant women young children. From the health facilities registration books, we can see that over 50,000 routine and emergency referrals were made by these groups.
“We go to people’s homes especially pregnant women and advise them on different issues"
“We go to people’s homes especially pregnant women and advise them on different issues.This was not common. Before, a woman never went to neighbours home without her husband or Mahram [a male member of the family].
But now young women who are CHW, HBLSS or FHAG members can go to their neighbours home and provide guidance for them,” added Jahantab.
The HBLSS not only gave health and life to people, it also allows women to participate in social issue and gives them a little bit freedom that they didn’t have before. Women can go to each other’s homes share their experiences and learn about new things.
“It’s a hard job,” says Jahantab. “I have to be dedicated and might be called at any times, maybe while I am sewing, cooking, or sleeping. But, I am not regretting that I am a HBLSS member because I believe that if I help other people God [will] help me too,” said Jahantab.